Method of treating milk



, Patented 5, 1930 Th otfia f this invention is to furnish;

the removal from milk of foreign tastes and odors, impurities generally, whether in sus pension or in solution, as well as harmful bacteria to a marked extent, without appreciably altering the composition or other desirable properties of the'milk. I v Foreign tastes and odors in milk may arise from a variety of causes, both internal and external to the animal producingthe milk. Especially in the spring of the year there Is the so-called garlicky or grassy condition, one of internal origin. resultingfrom the food ofthe animal. Examples of external origin are as numerous as conditions under which milk is produced and stored, such as barnyard odors absorbed at the placeof production and fruit and vegetable odors absorbed in case of storage in proximity to such materials. Suspended impurities may arise from many sources, typified by material blowing in or falling in the milk. Impurities from similar sources may be soluble in the milk, and, consequently, can not be removed by ordinary straining or filtration 30 steps.

The purification means which I use is capable of dealing with any of the above mentioned types of contamination, except thatv dissolved material of an inorganic nature, such as ordinary table salt, is not appreclably affected. This is, in fact, a desirable cond1- time because in removing harmful materials,

I do not interfere with the valuable mineral 4 salts. While it is not my desire to encourage the production and sale of milk in any way open to suspicion, I must mention, in order toprotect my entire invention, that the relnoval of harmful bacteria maybe accom plished by my process. It is not recommend ,ed that milk known to be contaminated with harmful bacteria be purified in this respect by my process, because there are too many uncertainties involved. However, to the ex- 5 tent that it works in this direction while pera particular case.

A coRPoR rI r DELAWABEV J ariach or rnEAfrinsiu nK App1ieation fi1ed oaotero,f z7; seriainbl eazmsl ROY Linnnn n m, or w-lnmineron' DELAWARE QASSIGNOR-EO DAnco oonrona'rion;

forming other functions previously specified,

the trend is'in the right direction. 1

l {My process involves the treatment of milk with activated carbon or bone-char, especially the. highly activated vegetable carbons, such as Darco,which are now available at a reasonable price; Either a finelypowdered or a granular product may be used,depending upon the convenience and economyof the case inhand. For'the same: reasons; the installatio'n may be a simple, home made ar-" rangement, or an elaborate industrial instal lation 'fThe' amount of pur1fier tobe used 1S alsofi governed {by the conditions involved in By way f eirample, I wiirfirstconsiafa large installation using finely powdered car bon. Ihave found that.0.4% of a highsgrade' carbon, such asjDarco, will cope with very severe conditions and 1 thatIusually a lesser amount is suitable, but I do not wish to be limited in this respect, because I cannot en-f tirely predict the conditions which I mayen-I counter; It been-my experiencethat no garlicky or grassy taste or odor remains afterTa- 0.4% treatmentin anysamples which I havetested; *1 i f 1 Thefcarbon should belthoroughly mixed withlthe milk insuitable tanks and kept so mixedfor at least five minutes, when'it may be removed by filtration, such as with a filter press. When an treatedmilk to be filtered, has beenrun throughthe ifilter'or'the filter is filled with carbon cake, it is desirable to run hot water through themass to washfiresidual milk from the carbon and filter and to generan sterilize them. My; process 1 comm plates reuse of the carbon after mere wash ing andsterilizat ion with hot water or after any of the well-known revivification treatments, when such, ref-usese'ems desirable. IShould'a largef lnstallation desire to use granular carbon, the carbon in column form ina vertical tankjor plpe should be suspended on blanketmaterial, for instance, or, blanket material anda'sand'bechthe "objectlbeing to catch any fine particles of carbon which may be eroded from the granular material. The. milk then run through the mass at a rate dependent on. conditions of contamina- K II tion and degree of purity desired. Under this condition, no filter press is necessary, but great care must be taken that the filter mass is thoroughly washed with quantities of hot water so that it will be in pure condition for re-use. 1 V

The application of my process on any scale is essentially merely a modification of the foregoing descriptions. The farmer or household with only a few quartsof milk per day may treat the milk with fine carbon followed by simple gravity filtration through blanket material, a sand bed or both,or may perforate the bottom of a bucket, lay blanket material thereon, pour in a few inches of granular carbon and pour the milk through. It is obvious that means for applying the process are numerous and any mererevision of equipment over my examples'is within the spirit of my invention.

It is of course common practice to strain or filter milk for the removal of impurities and this I do not claim, but as far as I am aware no method has heretofore been devised for removing from milk such intangible things as tastesand odors of an objectionable nature, such as thetaste of garlic, for example. It is desired, by way of further example, to show the economic and good will conse- 1 quences of one of the best k-nownconditions which my invention will correct, that of garlicky or grassy milk. During certain periods the milk producer on many farms can hardly prevent sucha condition. Ifhe ships such milk to a city distributor and it is returned to him, he feels a grievance and there is general loss. Inturn, the city distributor is in disfavorfwith the farmer if'he returns it, and with'his customers if he sells it. Most milk users find such tastes and odors very objectionable. They also carry over into such milk products as cream, butter, ice cream, buttermilk and cottage cheese. My process will prevent all .of this. The logical point of treatment would be where milk is collected'togethe'r in large quantity as by a city distributor or large manufacturer of milk products, but the invention is in no way limited to this, as previously shown.

The admixture of other materials with my activated carbon, such as clay, kieselguhr, wood pulp, etc., either before or during treatment of the milk, are within the spirit of my invention; also the treatment of milk products such as cream.

While the mere placing of the activated carbonin the container of the milk, or the mere passing of the milkthrough the activated carbon, will secure the desired results,

no it is to be understood that'the invention contemplates the use of any other steps deemed desirable, such for example as stirring the mil-is and carbon, mixture, gently or rapidly, tobring every particle of the milk into con tacti with the-carbon.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The herein described method of removing from milk the taste and odor of garlic arising'from the bodily processes of the animal producing the milk, which consists of contacting garlicky milk with activated carbon and thereafter separating the carbon from the milk.

2. The herein described method of removing from milk the taste and odor of garlic arising from the bodily processes of the animal producing the milk, which consists of contacting garlicky milk with activated carbon for at least five minutes and thereafter separating the carbon from the milk.

In testimony whereof he afltixes his signature. or

ROY LINDEN HILL. 

